23RD TALLINN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL JAZZKAAR 2012 MOVES TO THE SEASHORE!
The sun rising higher and the days growing longer are always sure signs that the time of Estonia’s biggest jazz party, Jazzkaar, is drawing ever nearer. Running from 20-29 April, this year’s Jazzkaar has a brand new home by the sea – the custom built Marina Pavilion on the Tallinn Harbour grounds. The elegant 1170 m2 pavilion, accommodating 1000 listeners, and its surroundings – the cosy cafes, exhibitions, recreational areas – make for a groovy festival environment, a great place to enjoy the combination of cool music and seaside vibes.
The headliners of Jazzkaar 2012 are the Jan Garbarek Group feat. Trilok Gurtu (Norway-India), Lizz Wright (USA), The Brand New Heavies (UK) and Amadou & Mariam (Mali). Besides the capital city, Tallinn, the festival will visit sixteen other towns in Estonia. The opening concert of Jazzkaar 2012 will feature the world music group Amadou & Mariam, who are currently touring their new album in Europe. The superstars of the band, two blind Mali-born musicians have sung themselves into the hearts of hundreds of thousands of listeners all over the world.
The first weekend of Jazzkaar 2012 will focus on young performers and the younger listeners – the smallest music-lovers included. Our foreign partners, the nomadic jazz festival 12 Points will present three emerging European jazz bands: Kaja Draksler Acropolis Quintet (Slovenia), Elifantree (Finland-Sweden) and MeTal-O-PhoNe (France). The musically minded kids will receive a fabulous gift from the lovely Danish band Djanzz, who will take the children and their parents on a fantasy trip. On Sunday, 22 April, Jazzkaar will make a tour of one of Tallinn’s most idiosyncratic and colourful districts, Kalamaja, where there are many intriguing places to discover and explore – free of charge! And the Marina Pavilion will also host a free concert by the new and unique Folk Orchestra.
Estonian musicians, as usual, will be performing a number of fascinating projects. There’s the Estonian Vocal Gala with 10 wonderful female singers. Tõnis Mägi will appear with a big blues band. The best of Estonia’s bassist will form the Aces of Basses, etc. The festival also presents the Young Jazz Talent 2011, Joel Rasmus Remmel with his trio, also Oleg Pissarenko, Jaak Sooäär, Raivo Tafenau, Meelis Vind, Villu Veski and many others.
European modern jazz at its most fascinating will be represented by such bands as Das Kapital (Germany-France-Denmark), Tingvall Trio (Germany), The Flow (Austria), Jo Stance (Finland), Vigleik Storaas Trio (Norway), and of course this year’s main attractions and superstars – the Jan Garbarek Group (Norway) featuring the famous Indian percussion guru Trilok Gurtu, and the legends of British club music The Brand New Heavies. The homeland of jazz, the United States, is represented at the festival by several stars. Firstly, one of the world’s top-notch alto sax players, Rudresh Mahanthappa, performs a program inspired by Indian music called Samdhi. Secondly, the highly sought-after and much loved bass player – and recent Grammy recipient – Christian McBride will put in an appearance. And thirdly, there’s the young velvet-voiced charming singer Lizz Wright.
Together with the Estonian Jazz Union and the festival’s golden sponsor, Elion, Jazzkaar will announce the recipients of the Estonian Jazz Awards 2012. The Estonian Jazz Awards will be given out for the sixth time.
Over the course of the festival, young musicians from the Georg Ots Music School will fill the streets and parks of Tallinn with vibrant music. You will see and hear them at the harbour, the airport, several shopping centres, on the streetcars and elsewhere! Young talents will also take part in the matinees at the Theatre NO99 Jazz Club, the Jazz Painting project and other exciting festival events.
In 2012, in cooperation with the Enterprise Estonia (EAS), Jazzkaar launches a jazz tourism project, offering special festival packages to music lovers from abroad.
The festival events will be covered by volunteer reporters and photographers; many concerts will be broadcast live by the Estonian National Broadcasting. Jazzkaar collaborates with the following festivals in our neighbour countries: April Jazz (Finland), Rigas Ritmi (Latvia) and Kaunas Jazz Festival (Lithuania).
The Tallinn International Festival Jazzkaar is supported by the City of Tallinn, the Estonian Cultural Endowment, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, foreign institutions and local partners. The golden sponsor of Jazzkaar is Elion; the main sponsors are Eesti Päevaleht and ERGO. Among the sponsors are the Estonian Air (official flying partner), Aktaprint, Tallink and Info-Auto. Jazzkaar’s partners are Clazz, RGB, Tallinn Harbour et al. The official accommodation partner of the festival is MyCityHotel.
The official address of the Marina Pavilion is Sadama 25/4, Tallinn. The Pavilion will be set up in cooperation with Jazzkaar’s production partner, RGB, and the Tallinn Harbour.
